Okay, so rather than going through Seek, agencies and all of our employment submissions, we are putting the feelers out for some new, young talent to assist with some jobs coming through next week.

We have an overflow requirement and need someone who knows FLASH Action Script 3 (not high-end) who is keen to show us their stuff and get their foot in the door on future projects.

We think there is 2 – 3 days’ work on some digital projects and online advertising elements where the animation is not too tricky – you just need to work your way through it meticulously and provide suggestions.

Yes, you can be at university, just as long as you KNOW YOUR WAY AROUND FLASH & CS5.

So, if you know someone or it’s you – send us a quick email with a day rate and some projects you have done to jobs@whiterhino.com.au with FLASHER in subject line.

The post Freelance Opportunity: Flash Developer (overflow work) appeared first on WhiteRhino : Savannah.

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There are a plethora of events out there for designers in Melbourne. This time we take a look at the annual events we look forward to each year. Next time we’ll be looking at the regular events that occur weekly, monthly or sporadically throughout the year. Let us know what your favourite Melbourne design event is.

Find us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to join in the conversation.

AG Ideas

AG Ideas was established by Ken Cato in 1991 as a means of celebrating excellence in the design industry and generally promoting the value of design. The week-long festival includes a program of events sharing knowledge and inspiration with students and professionals alike. The three-day seminar brings 40 internationally acclaimed creatives from various disciplines to Melbourne each year.

Pricepoint: Prices start at $310 for students and go up to $1700 for a studio pass (4 tickets).

Click here to view the AG Ideas website

Semi-Permanent

The brainchild of Sydney studio Design Is Kinky, Semi-Permanent started in 2003 and touts itself as a “creative platform spreading art and design inspiration”. Speakers are diverse, hailing from various creative fields including design, illustration, art, film, animation, graffiti and architecture. The two-day event is now in 9 cities in 5 countries.

Pricepoint: $150 for a two-day student pass and $240 for professionals.

Click here to view the Semi-Permanent website

Sex, Drugs & Helvetica

From the people behind the huge poster competition that is Positive Posters, Sex, Drugs & Helvetica’s inaugural conference was a runaway hit in 2012. SDH is practical with a healthy dose of fun. Speakers are professionals from all parts of the industry – paper merchants, printers, lawyers, and yes, designers. Whilst the one-day event has a focus on students, it’s open to anyone who is keen to further their education.

Pricepoint: $40

Click here to view the Sex, Drugs & Helvetica website

The post Design Events in Melbourne – Part 1 appeared first on WhiteRhino : Savannah.

But he does have a position in my company, and in actual fact he is one of the longest serving rhinos. Frank is in charge of everything a cold caller may ask about – laser consumables, phone systems and plans, seminar attendances, amazing once in a lifetime opportunities – you name it, he’s in charge of it. Now, I completely understand that such calls are a part of business, and that cold calling can be a very stressful and much maligned occupation, but when a polite employee cannot simply answer, “Sorry we are not interested,” we needed to get creative about it, so we invented Frank to screen these calls.

So as you could imagine, Frank receives lots of calls and is on many, many phone call databases (he even gets weekly mail). Our system of managing this essential part of business has become very streamlined. The obvious starter responses are “Sorry,  Frank is in a meeting – can I take a message?” “Sorry Frank is off-site,” but his personality has grown over the years to more in-depth responses: “Sorry, Frank is in the Bahamas on holidays,” “Sorry, Frank is currently touring with the rhinos in Africa.” The astute cold caller may often try “Well, who else handles…” and the caller is duly told, “No, that’s Frank’s department, no-one goes near his stuff – you HAVE to speak to Frank about this,” and a satisfied cold caller hangs up, happy that they have the right contact within the organisation.

So those who answer the phone don’t need to ask the caller “and where are you calling from” to qualify the call, it just goes directly to Frank.  But we know – and probably some companies will also now know – that Frank will never answer the call, he will never return the call nor will he ever get out of that production meeting.

So perhaps your business could use a Frank, Edna or Vinnie, because Frank has helped us be more productive and efficient and for that he really does deserve a holiday in the Bahamas.

The post Frank, Edna or Vinnie! A must for every SME business. appeared first on WhiteRhino : Savannah.

What is crowdsourcing?

“Crowdsourcing is a process that involves outsourcing tasks to a distributed group of people. This process can occur both online and offline. The difference between crowdsourcing and ordinary outsourcing is that a task or problem is outsourced to an undefined public rather than a specific body, such as paid employees.” – Wikipedia

So, what’s wrong with that?

In theory, crowdsourcing sounds pretty good for a client. You have a brief, you put it up online, and you return later to find a whole bunch of concepts in your inbox – and only pay your nominated fee. But it’s not quite that simple.

Crowdsourcing hurts designers and the design industry. The core premise behind crowdsourcing is that clients can get their design work completed on the cheap. Ultimately, this involves a myriad of designers doing work on spec (i.e.: for no pay), and only the designer whose work is selected ends up being paid. In the marketing material for a leading design crowdsourcing site, they offer clients the opportunity to hold a “design contest” to get designs “at a fraction of the price” to “spend less and get more” – implicit in this is that designers must scramble to get less and give more.

When you order a meal, you don’t order five and only pay for the best one. No-one should have to work for free or enter a “contest” just to get paid for work they have already completed – plumbers don’t do it, shops don’t just let you walk in and take merchandise, so why should design be any different?

There is no reason that you should get free or cheap ideas or designs just because you are “floating an idea” or a “startup” and there is no excuse for not paying someone for the work they do. Just like you, our jobs are our livelihood; it’s what we do to put food on the table. Crowdsourcing is tantamount to exploitation and it’s audacious to suggest that there is any legitimacy in the practice.

Graphic design is a skilled occupation and as such it is a service that should be paid for. Crowdsourcing is in many ways similar to free pitching, a practice that is frowned upon in the design industry. The AGDA (Australian Graphic Design Association) code of ethics “discourages members from predatory pricing practices such as free pitching, loss leading and other pricing below break-even. Members should be aware that such practices will damage the economic viability of their business.”

Additionally, AGDA stress that they are “unequivocally opposed to the unfair manipulation of designers with the aim of garnering unpaid work.” In a creative industry, ideas are our business and there is potential for crowdsourcing (and free pitching) to be misused as a means of a client accessing a multitude of ideas for minimal or no spend.

There are downsides for clients too. When you use a studio or freelance designer, a key determiner in getting a good outcome for your business is in the collaboration between client and designer. Effective design achieves results via research, concept development, design and refinement. The whole process requires your designer to have an intimate understanding of your business and its needs; this can only be achieved through a strong relationship with you, the client. Users on crowdsourcing sites are not given the opportunity nor the budget to get to know you or your business, and as such you get what you pay for.

Additionally, when joining forces with a flesh and blood designer, you are able to verify their skills and qualifications. Online, you have no way of telling who anyone really is or to ensure the work they upload is their own. Is it worth risking that the ‘unique’ design created for your business could be plastered all over another brand’s building, collateral and website?

Crowdsourcing devalues what we do – design is not simply a logo or a brochure, it’s the bespoke result of an involved process of hard work and informed research. Clients using crowdsourcing for their design demonstrate a lack of respect for and understanding of the design process, designers and our industry. Designers also ought to consider the ramifications of using these sites to earn a bit of cash on the side; it makes them complicit in perpetuating the idea that design is not a valuable service and encourages clients to seek out these services in favour of paying appropriate rates for design work.

The post Why crowdsourcing design is bad for business appeared first on WhiteRhino : Savannah.

This is Leeroy.

Beautiful, regal and dangerously powerful, he is the Werribee Open Range Zoo’s very own white rhino. Born in September 1980, Leeroy is the oldest white rhino at the zoo and now too old and unsociable to mingle with his fellow rhinos, he roams the back paddocks of Werribee, out of public view and peaceful in his solitude.

Searching for our hero, we felt Leeroy embodied the very essence of what we stand for at WhiteRhino. Strong, fearless, and utterly breathtaking he stands alone as one of a kind. Captured on film by the talented Scott Newett during a memorable day of shooting, Leeroy has become our mascot and icon.

Quick to become moody in the presence of others on the day of filming, it wasn’t long into shooting before Leeroy revealed the antics which earned him his solitude. Snorting wildly and pawing at the ground, Leeroy repeatedly prepared to charge at the quaking camera crew.

Gathering speed and fury with each attempt he hurled himself violently towards the single electric wire separating him from the photographer. A two and a half tonne cannonball flying wildly towards us only to pull up short in a cloud of dust at the last possible second.

Though temperamental in his old age, Leeroy is nothing short of magnificent and the memory of our incredible experience with him still takes our breath away. Native to Africa, white rhinos are believed to be extinct in the north, and thrive only in protected wildlife sanctuaries in the south.

The post This Is Leeroy appeared first on WhiteRhino : Savannah.

2. Watch videos on YouTube without headphones. Yeah, that guy – the one not doing any work, loudly. Don’t be him. If you’re going to slack off, at least do it quietly.

3. Forward funny viral emails. Just because I know you does not allay the fact you just filled my inbox with spam. I have filters in place for this stuff, don’t abuse your unfettered access.

4. Expect me to bake. I’m all for morning tea, but just because you’re a baker does not mean I am in the least domestically inclined (like, at all), so ease up on the criticism when I bring packet slice again. I’m good at other things, like dishes.

5. Jam the photocopier. If you can’t work out how to print without causing the paper jam equivalent of Punt Rd at peak hour then you really need to sort it out. Or be prepared to make friends with a notepad again.

6. Stick post-its to people’s monitors. So you know that thing about not touching your computer screen? That extends to sticking post-its on it. In fact it becomes exponentially worse when there’s adhesive involved.

7. Hoard pens. Once a month check the pen-to-employee ratio around the office and if you’re coming off like the Imelda Marcos of stationery, it might be time to redistribute.

8. Climb on the roof. Enough said.

The post 8 Things Not To Do At Work appeared first on WhiteRhino : Savannah.

Smart kids do their homework. Not because it’s easier for them (though it’s true sometimes it is), but because that’s how they get smart. Newsflash: that doesn’t end at school.

It’s a shocking and somewhat overlooked truth that the more you work at something, the better you become. For some reason though, too many of us think this is an optional extra once the clock strikes five and let the habit fall off quicker than you can throw a mortar board in the air after graduation.

This is not to say you don’t learn while you work. This can be the very best way to learn and many a professional will confess they learnt more in their first year of work than their entire uni degree. However, when you’re at work you have a job to do, and oftentimes this doesn’t involve stopping to check what’s going on around you.

Some industries, heavily regulated and highly accountable, require this without question. Unfortunately however, many do not and most creative industries fall into this category. Along with the freedom to build, design, write and create whatever we like, comes a gaping void in any kind of universal standard. It’s a very hard thing to qualify (borderline impossible), which is why it isn’t done, however as a result we aren’t required to do anything to keep up save turn up to work.

This is where the problem lies. I’d venture to say there’s not a job in the world you couldn’t get better at with a little extra effort out side of work. Moreover, those in creative professions should know that theirs is a fast moving industry and digital developments redefine the boundaries every single day. It’s for this reason that the harder a job is to define, the more you need to know about the landscape in order to keep your footing.

It’s not that you need to know everything. That’s about as useful as having ten arms to drive a mouse, but it is important to know what’s going on. What are your peers and colleagues doing? Where is your industry heading? Who are the ones leaping ahead and who trails behind? What conversation is taking place around you? This is the information you don’t accrue sitting at your desk eight hours a day.

This is the information you have to hunt for, and when you start to collect enough, it’s the information that starts to give you a look at the bigger picture. Information sourcing is no longer restricted or difficult for anyone with Internet access, so reading the news, compiling blogs, asking questions and finding social forums should be routine practice for most of us. More than that, if you love what you do, it should be what drives you.

The need to know more, to understand and to seek is fundamental to being good at what you do. Smart people may be born smart, but clever people learn how to be. So next time you can’t muster the motivation to read the industry newsletters piling up in your inbox, consider learning how to try it and give one a go. You might be surprised what a little extra insight does when you hit the desk the next day.

The post Learn To Be Smart appeared first on WhiteRhino : Savannah.

Hey there, as part of our ongoing commitment to fostering young talent in our community and contributing to the training and development of the next generation of graphic designers, we’re pleased to be introducing STUDENT SPOTLIGHT. Each month, we’ll be featuring one exciting up and coming designer here on our blog whose work we think shows talent and potential. We’ll also promote you through our social media channels, giving you maximum exposure and a leg up in the industry.

The invitation is open to all students and recent graduates (must have finished study no more than a year ago), and all you have to do is post a link to a piece of your work or portfolio via the comment box below and make sure you Like WhiteRhino on Facebook so we can share the love.

We’ll be launching other mentoring initiatives throughout the year including studio Q&As and work experience opportunities so make sure you check back to see what we’ve got going on in the studio and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter for updates.

Entries for August spotlight close Friday 31 August.

The post Introducing Student Spotlight appeared first on WhiteRhino : Savannah.

Ever get the feeling that you know someone, but you can’t quite pinpoint where you’ve seen them? Maybe you catch the tram with them everyday, perhaps they went to your high school or maybe they work in your local KMart.

We designers get these feelings too, but for us it’s slightly different. Sometimes a sign or poster will catch my eye and I’ll think, “that person looks familiar”. I’ll rack my brain trying to put my finger on who they might be and then it hits me…

“You’re my iStock friend!” Yep, the lady on that sign does not work at my local accountant’s office (despite being in their ad), she’s the number one result for “female businesswoman”. That man advertising a retirement village is not someone I see on the train, he’s on page one for “beautiful retired gentleman”. And that family representing the childcare centre down the street are not my next door neighbours, they’re in the first row of iStock results for “happy family”!

We designers do rely on stock images as a resource, but some of these images suffer from extreme overuse – so much so that some of these people almost feel like old friends or acquaintances.

Buck the trends and start being creative with your iStock search terms. Perhaps try sorting by number of downloads and avoid the first 5 pages, or just try using words that other people might not automatically think of.  Whatever you do, don’t just pick the first image that comes up, because chances are, 8,600 other designers have used it too.

For more information on iStock trends, click here.

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